Ardeth Bay
Ardeth Bay was a Medjai chieftain and warrior that led a band of warriors patrolling the Sahara desert. A personal friend of the O'Connell family in later years, Ardeth Bay dedicated much of his life ensuring with other Medjai warriors that the High Priest Imhotep did not return from the dead. Biography Ardeth Bay was sworn from manhood to ensure that none travel to Hamanaptra and resurrect the High Priest Imhotep from death, and tended to his duty with dedication, frightening off or killing all that reached the city. Along with other Medjai warriors, Ardeth Bay patrolled the ruins of Hamanaptra as well as the dunes surrounding it for any offenders. Tuareg Battle One day in 1925 A.D, Ardeth Bay and his fellow Medjai warriors witnessed a battle taking place at Hamanaptra: a garrison from the French Foreign Legion had staked out in Hamanaptra, nearly all its men believing in it so much that without orders they trekked through Libya to find the ruins. The soldiers outnumbered the Medjai forces so greatly that any attack by the Medjai would be ineffective and would not disperse the troops enough to have them leave. The Legionnaires, however, had a trouble of their own: a roving band of Tuareg warriors came to the ruins, outnumbering the Legionnaires greatly, compelling them all to fight. Colonel Guizot, the Legionnaires' leader, left the battle supposedly to fetch reinforcements, actually abandoning his men in the ruins. This act of cowardice branded Rick O'Connell, a Legionnaire formerly of Chicago and the next highest rank in the garrison, the leader of the Legionnaire troops. After much gun-fighting and slaughter, the Tuaregs were brought down in numbers as were nearly all the men in the Legionnaire garrison, save for O'Connell and Beni Gabor, a Legionnaire foot soldier that had chosen to hide in a doorway within the ruins. O'Connell fought as best he could, taking down many Tuaregs, but finally outgunned as the warriors surrounded him on horseback, about to open fire. At that moment, however, an unknown force under the sands caused the Tuaregs' horses to panic, compelling the Tuaregs themselves to leave the scene, as they too saw that force. O'Connell soon after saw the force manifesting itself as it caused the surrounding sands to take the shape of a giant human face contorted with pain. Frightened off by this new turn of events, O'Connell ran off from the ruins of Hamanaptra and into the deserts of the Sahara as the Medjai warriors watched on surreptitiously, Ardeth Bay among them. One Medjai warrior asked Ardeth Bay if they should attack, as O'Connell could return to civilisation and tell the tale, Ardeth Bay replying that if the Tuaregs could not stop O'Connell, the desert would take care of him. Alerted Three years after the battle between the Tuaregs and the Legionnaires, the Medjai received word from a loyal contact, the curator of a Cairo Museum, that the Museum's librarian Evelyn Carnahan had found a map leading to Hamunaptra. She and her brother Jonathan recruited O’Connell to lead them, and a team of Medjai assassins were sent out to intercept the barge ferrying the explorers down the Nile. The leader of this group, a menacing tattooed man with scars and a hook for a right hand, confronted a terrified Evelyn, demanding the map and the puzzle box, an Ancient Egyptian device that was referred to by the assailant as "the key", that contained the parchment. At that moment Rick O’Connell arrived to battle the Medjai forces, which were setting fire to the ship and shooting at helpless bystanders. As O’Connell was preparing to abandon ship, the hook-handed Medjai tackled him from over the rail, knocking down Rick. As the warrior beat O’Connell with brutal hay-makers and strangled the American against a pole, Rick then furiously broke free of the Medjai’s grip, head-butting the man and kicking him through a door that led to a burning room A few days later, having survived the attack on the boat, O’Connell led his clients to the lost city, and soon after were accompanied by a team of American fortune seekers also looking for Hamunaptra. One night, while riding en route through the desert, a wary O’Connell spotted a trio of Medjai horsemen watching him from atop a rock formation; not knowing the riders to be Medjai, he remained on alert. Ardeth declared that O'Connell was strong, having survived a trek through the desert. Attack on the Camp The next night, Ardeth and a group of Medjai warriors stormed the camp grounds on horseback, killing off several native diggers and having some of their own number brought down as O'Connell, along with the three Americans, Evelyn, and Jonathan fought back. As Jonathan shot a pistol and helped himself to a dead explorer's whiskey, Ardeth came roving towards him on horseback, brandishing a scimitar as he did. O'Connell tackled the Medjai, knocking him off his horse. Another Medjai caused O'Connell to lose his focus and shoot away at him, killing the warrior, which gave Ardeth a moment to knock the pistol out of O'Connell's hand. Rolling backwards and grabbing a stick of dynamite as he fell back, the American lit the fuse of the dynamite. Seeing that the American was not bluffing, Ardeth called off his remaining warriors and declared that they would kill no more, but that the expeditionaries must all leave the City of the Dead or die. Giving them all one day to leave, Ardeth jumped up onto his horse and took his warriors with him. Imhotep Resurrected The combined expeditions refused to leave, camping in groups rather than alone as a precaution. That night, the tents of the expeditionaries were combined into one single area to ensure protection. The next night, Evelyn Carnahan, having taken the already-discovered Book of the Dead from Allen Chamberlin, had mistakenly read the incantations that led to the resurrection of Imhotep. At that time, Ardeth and the other Medjai warriors had returned to the City of the Dead, finding Dr. Chamberlin in the campsite and taking him hostage. The Medjai had all found the expeditionaries that had run into the tunnels in fear of the mummy's curse coming to them shortly after, taking one member of the expedition, Burns from within the chambers below: Burns was missing his eyes and tongue after he had run into the mummy Imhotep. Ardeth stepped forward from his fellow warriors, as they outnumbered the expeditionaries in firepower and numbers, to tell them that because they refused to leave, their actions might have caused some serious troubles; the expeditionaries had unleashed an ancient evil that was feared by the Medjai for over three thousand years. O'Connell remarked that he had already dispatched the evil one, as Ardeth remarked that no mortal weapon could do any damage to the mummy. With that, two Medjai stepped forward, bringing in Burns, who had been maimed severely by the mummy. Henderson and Daniels, Burns' companions, had bitterly accused Ardeth and the other Medjai of disfiguring their friend, while Ardeth stated that Burns had been saved from the mummy completing his work. Commanding the expeditions to leave the City of the Dead, Ardeth declared that he would go on the hunt and try and find a way to kill the creature. O'Connell insisted that he had killed the enemy, but Ardeth was unconvinced still, telling the American that the mummy would bring death, never stopping to rest until the whole of his curse took the Earth itself. In Cairo Ardeth had eventually made his way to Cairo, where he sought out his contact, Dr Terence Bey. At that time, Evelyn, O'Connell, Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels stepped into the Cairo Museum to speak with Dr. Bey, having just seen their fellow expeditionary Burns dead by the doing of Imhotep, and seek advice. Surprised to see that Ardeth Bay was in league with Dr. Bey, Evelyn demanded to know what the Medjai was doing within the Museum as her friends pointed their firearms at the warrior; Dr. Bey calmly responded by asking if they really wished to know or if they would prefer to just shoot them both. All in the group decided to put down their arms and listen. Dr. Bey and Ardeth explained that they were part of an ancient secret society that was dedicated to the protection of mankind by ensuring from manhood that they would do all that they could to ensure that the High Priest Imhotep did not return into the world; Ardeth told the group accusingly that, because, of them, the Medjai mission was failed. Evelyn asked if their actions justified the killing of innocents, to which Ardeth and Dr. Bey replied that it was, if only to stop the creature. Asked why Imhotep feared cats so, Dr. Bey replied that cats were the guardians of the Underworld, and that Imhotep would fear them until he was fully regenerated, fearing nothing once he was whole. Evelyn then cited that Imhotep had called her Anck-Su-Namun while they were at Hamunaptra, and while in Burns' quarters he had tried to kiss her; Dr. Bey and Ardeth explained that it was because Imhotep's love for Anck-Su-Namun that he was cursed, and that after three thousand years, he was still in love with her. Dr. Bey and Ardeth then concluded that Imhotep might intend to resurrect his love, having chosen Evelyn as his sacrifice. Dr. Bey took this as possible good new, as it might have given them the time needed to kill the mummy. Ardeth then noted that they would need all of the help that they could get, as Imhotep's powers were growing, referring to the sun, which was being blocked out as one of the Plagues. After some time, Evelyn, O'Connell, Jonathan, and Daniels had returned to the Cairo Museum and had met up once again with Dr. Bey and Ardeth, where Evelyn and the Curator set out to look for any artifacts within the museum that might give clues to where the Book of Amun-Ra, the only thing that could bring down Imhotep, was located. As the group examined one displayed slab with hieroglyphs on it, the sound of chanting resonated from outside as the townspeople of Cairo, then covered with boils and sores, marched to the museum in great hordes; they had been made Imhotep's slaves. The mob then proceeded to break down the doors as those inside frantically read the hieroglyphs and concluded that the Book of Amun-Ra was located in Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus. The mob outside broke down the doors at once as Jonathan ran outside to start the car, leaving O'Connell, Evelyn, Ardeth, Daniels and Dr. Bey to run outside and board it when Beni Gabor, a guide on the expedition to Hamunaptra, then in league with Imhotep, called out for his master. The group escaped at once as the enslaved townsfolk pursued them, but were stopped when a large crowd of the townspeople were blocking the road. Plowing through them, the resisters had been swarmed with many of the townspeople, who had begun to climb up the car. Ardeth, along with O'Connell, Daniels, Evelyn and Dr. Bey, began to fight them off, punching them off and hitting them so that they fell from the car. Soon after, they had lost Daniels, who fell from the car as he was pulled down by two of the townspeople, and the car ran directly into a fire hydrant, stopping the group from escaping any further. Cornered by the townspeople, the group saw Imhotep fully regenerated, tailed by Beni, who translated his words for him: if Evelyn stepped forward and left with Imhotep, the mummy would spare her friends. Evelyn reluctantly stepped forward, and was almost stopped by O'Connell, but Evelyn reasoned that she still had to be taken to Hamunaptra for the ritual to be performed, which Ardeth explained as "live today, fight tomorrow". O'Connell then reluctantly stepped back, vowing to see the mummy again, and as Imhotep left with Evelyn, he ordered the townspeople to kill off the resisters. O'Connell, seeing that he was outnumbered, quickly opened a manhole cover on the road, sending Jonathan and Ardeth down. Before he could send the Curator down, the Curator insisted that he be left to fight off the townspeople, but was overpowered by them and killed. Return to Hamunaptra O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth had made their way through the city's sewer systems, encountering and fighting against crazed villagers many times, until O'Connell lit up a dynamite stick and threw it, killing off a number of the enslaved people. Finally escaping the sewers, O'Connell and Ardeth devised a plan to reach Hamunaptra, rescue Evelyn, and end Imhotep's plans. The three men reached the airfield where Winston Havelock, an aging biplane pilot in the employ of the Royal Air Force, volunteered to help them reach the ruins once he had learned that the job entailed dying in action. Winston, however, pointed that his plane only had room for one pilot and one gunman, but Jonathan insisted that they all had to get to the ruins. Jonathan then was assigned with finding a way to tie himself to one wing of the plane, while Ardeth would be tied to the other. The plane then took off for the City of the Dead, and Ardeth, who had never before flown on a plane, was enjoying the experience. As they were all riding through the air and reaching the ruins, Imhotep spotted the plane and used his powers to conjure up a sandstorm that impeded the plane's arrival. The sandstorm soon subsided and the plane, with its engines burnt out, crashed to the desert below. As O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth got off of the plane, Winston remained in the cockpit: he had died in battle. The sands gave way to the plane as Ardeth shouted for O'Connell and Jonathan step back from the wreck, taking down Winston Havelock and his plane. Taking a moment of silence out of respect for the fall of the pilot, the group then began their walk to the ruins. O'Connell and Ardeth began to take down large rocks that were blocking off an entrance, and Jonathan, who was holding a torch for them, was sidetracked by a mural on the wall with large shiny stones in it. Plucking a stone from the wall, Jonathan held it in his hand until he saw that the stone was actually a scarab, which had begun to tear its way up through Jonathan's skin and to his head; O'Connell stopped the scarab by cutting it out and flinging it to the floor, and as the scarab tried to escape, O'Connell shot it dead with a revolver. Imhotep, however, had heard the shot and, knowing that his foes had survived, brought back his mummified priests, and ordered them to kill off the resisters and awaken the other priests. As the mummified priests woke each other up, O'Connell, Ardeth and Jonathan all reached the treasure chamber of Hamunaptra, which shone brightly with many gold statues and other priceless artifacts. As the three men stood within the chamber, taking in the sight of the golden valuables, they heard a low croaking sound that came from behind them, the sound being a mummy that was emerging from the sandy floor, along with other mummies that came from the floor as well, and from the corridors near the chamber entrance. Ardeth identified the mummies as Imhotep's priests, and the group began to open fire on them, escaping just in time, and finding the statue of Horus, which O'Connell and Jonathan were about to pry open, when a pair of mummies erupting from the floor, threw them aside and began to pry at the compartment of the statue. The compartment then released a burning jet of salt acid that incinerated the mummies, allowing O'Connell and Jonathan to continue their work. The mummies kept coming in greater numbers when Ardeth decided to stave them off by running from the other two men and driving the mummies away. Ardeth ran into a corridor that was filled with mummies and, fighting his way out, Ardeth drew the mummies away. After he had drawn them away, Ardeth escaped back up to the surface. Not long after, O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan defeated Imhotep by returning him to his mortal form and as that happened, Beni had mistakenly brought down the city of Hamunaptra, trapping himself inside by mistake, and leaving the three survivors to escape quickly. As O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan stood outside of the ruins of Hamunaptra, a bandaged hand took Jonathan's shoulder, surprising them all; the hand was Ardeth's, and Ardeth, then atop a camel, explained that because they had killed Imhotep, they were blessed with the gratitude and respect of Ardeth's people. With that, Ardeth blessed them in Allah's name and left towards the sunset on his camel. To London Several years later, a cultist group had reached Hamunaptra with the intent of finding the remains of Imhotep so as to bring him back. The cultist group knew that long ago, a warlord known as the Scorpion King had conquered and that he had been cursed by the god Anubis. As part of the curse that bound him, the Scorpion King was condemned to a stasis for a period of five thousand years, and at the end of this sentence, whoever could defeat the Scorpion King in battle could take control of his army, the Army of Anubis. The cultists believed that Imhotep was the only individual that could best the Scorpion King, and so headed to the ruins of Hamunaptra to recover his remains and bring him back to life. Ardeth had disguised himself as another native fellahin digger hired by the cultists so that he might infiltrate their activities and know what they were planning. The cultists had found Imhotep and had decided to head to London so as to retrieve the Bracelet of Anubis, the key to finding the resting place of the Scorpion King, the Oasis of Ahm Shere. Ardeth had headed to London as well in secret and hid inside the home of the O'Connell family, who he knew had the bracelet, so as to warn them and fight against any cultist thugs that might harm the O'Connells. Ardeth had made his presence known when Lock-Nah, the cultist enforcer and foe of Ardeth Bay, had announced that he would kill Evelyn and her son Alex for not giving him and his thugs the Bracelet. Ardeth stepped forward and acknowledged Lock-Nah's presence before beginning to fight. The cultist thugs were fought by Evelyn and Ardeth, who felled a number of them, but as Ardeth fought on, he was overpowered by Lock-Nah, who slashed him in the chest and took Evelyn, who he had knocked unconscious, along with the chest that Evelyn and her family had acquired while in Egypt. Lock-Nah then threw a dagger towards Ardeth, which was meant to kill him, but Ardeth dodged the blade as it hit the wall behind him. Ardeth had managed to escape the scene and find O'Connell, who was displeased to see Ardeth in his home and that Evelyn had been taken; that being, O'Connell demanded to know who the men were that were taking his wife. Ardeth explained that he was not sure, but, drawing out a photograph of a man in robes, wherever the man in the photograph was, O'Connell's wife would be. Alex took the picture from Ardeth's hands, pointing out that the man in the photograph was a curator in the British Museum. As O'Connell, Ardeth, Jonathan (who had escaped the cultists with O'Connell), and Alex headed to the car, Ardeth explained that the men who had invaded O'Connell's home were part of a cult that had brought back Imhotep, and were led by the woman that had come with them, who, Ardeth said, knew things that no living person was capable of knowing, such as the location of Imhotep's remains. Ardeth also pointed out that she might have had the Bracelet of Anubis with her, but Alex denied this, pulling back his sleeve and showing that he had the Bracelet. Ardeth then grimly told Alex that by putting the Bracelet on, he had caused a chain reaction that might bring about the next Apocalypse, which caused O'Connell to ask him to calm himself down and get in the car. Rick O'Connell and Ardeth left the O'Connell home with Jonathan and Alex as they all headed to the British Museum; as they drove, Ardeth explained that Imhotep's cultist followers intended to resurrect him in order to obtain the powers that were said to be brought on by defeating an ancient being known as the Scorpion King: whoever brought the Scorpion King down was able to claim his army, the Army of Anubis, as their own, with the choice of either sending it back to the Underworld or using it to destroy mankind. Ardeth went on to explain that the cultists intended to bring Imhotep back because he was the best choice to defeat the Scorpion King. The four stopped in front of the museum, where O'Connell and Ardeth unpacked guns from the trunk, Ardeth's preferred gun being the Thompson, as it recoiled when shot. As they went on selecting guns, Ardeth noticed that O'Connell had a tattoo on his wrist that resembled the tattoo that a Medjai Warrior, known colloquially as a "Knight Templar", and spoke to O'Connell the question that Medjai were familiar with, O'Connell answering it well; O'Connell, however, denied that he was a Medjai and told Ardeth that the tattoo had been given to him at an orphanage in Cairo, but Ardeth insisted that O'Connell was a Medjai, and the two men ventured into the museum to find Evelyn. As O'Connell and Ardeth walked further into the museum, they reached the Egyptology section and saw that a number of the mummies being put on display had come to life, shrieking and writhing in their display cases, but causing no harm, which served as a confirmation that the cultists were bringing Imhotep back. Finally, O'Connell and Ardeth reached the storage area where Imhotep was being brought back to find that Evelyn had been tied down to a wooden board and that Imhotep had been brought back to life, consorting with Meela Nais, the cultist woman that Ardeth spoke of. Meela had ordered several cultists to throw Evelyn into a fiery stone basin and be burned alive but O'Connell, who leapt up onto the scene, saved Evelyn from the fires before she could fall in. O'Connell drew out his guns and began to fire at the cultists, taking additional help bringing down the cultists from Ardeth, who fired from a balcony in the storage area. O'Connell and Evelyn then quickly left the storage area with Ardeth as Imhotep summoned up his own warriors: four mummified soldiers, which he gave orders to kill O'Connell, Evelyn and Ardeth as they escaped out of the museum. The O'Connells and Ardeth quickly left the museum before the mummified soldiers could catch them, running outside to find Jonathan driving a double decker bus in place of O'Connell's car, as it had been locked. Boarding the bus, the group saw that the mummies were chasing them still through the streets of London, and they staved them all off, Ardeth tearing one mummy apart with the Thompson gun. The shot mummy, however, still boarded the bus as it was moving and threw Ardeth around as it hung onto the sides, its legs and waist being shot off. The mummy had thrown Ardeth around and slashed at his chest with razor-sharp fingernails that it had sprouted from its withered hand, almost killing the warrior before Evelyn could shoot it apart. The double-decker bus continued to drive into a tunnel, decapitating another mummy that was about to kill O'Connell, and had its top half torn off, driving on until it reached the London bridge and Ardeth, who was wearily laying on a bus seat catching his breath, informed O'Connell that it was his first bus ride. As the O'Connells kissed and were distracted, Alex was kidnapped by the cultists, who snuck up behind him and took him away into their car, which drove away from the bridge before it was drawn. O'Connell tried to run after the car but could not make it over the bridge in time and wept as he stayed on one side of the bridge, his son gone. Ardeth informed O'Connell that because Alex wore the Bracelet, he could not be harmed, for the Bracelet would provide the location of the next stop on the way to Ahm Shere. O'Connell remarked that his son had told him that when he had put on the Bracelet, he had seen the pyramids at Giza and the temples in Karnak. The next location that O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and Ardeth would visit would therefore be Karnak, and O'Connell remarked that they would need a "magic carpet", or a form of speedy travel. To Karnak Ardeth Bay had returned to the deserts and summoned up the twelve commanders of the Medjai, instructing them to head to the former headquarters of the Royal Air Force. Ardeth led them there himself, revealing them to the O'Connells and Jonathan, along with the pilot of their transport: Izzy Buttons, who had agreed to take the group to Karnak in exchange for a golden staff in O'Connell's possession. Ardeth then introduced his pet falcon, the bird Horus, who would help to exchange messages with the Medjai chieftains, informing them of the cultists' whereabouts, before regrouping with the O'Connells, Jonathan, and Izzy as they all boarded the transport: a large makeshift dirigible that was tethered in the airways: Ardeth sardonically remarked that they could never keep their feet on the ground as he boarded the craft along with the others, leaving the airways and travelling on through Giza and over the Nile. Ardeth went on to explain to Jonathan that although Rick O'Connell did not wish to admit it, he flew on diligently towards his destiny, which did not interest Jonathan, who hastily changed the subject to the golden pyramid of Ahm Shere. Ardeth explained that since the time of the Scorpion King, it was written that none that had laid eyes on the oasis of Ahm Shere had returned to tell the tale, his statement being derided by Jonathan, who asked where all the notions were written down as he felt around in the cockpit of the dirigible for his golden staff. Finally reaching the staff, Jonathan explained to Ardeth that the staff was the only remaining item of his fortune since "some rather unscrupulous characters" had taken it; Ardeth suggested that if the curator had reacted to it with such intent as Jonathan had said, its value must be beyond monetary worth, suggesting to Jonathan that he keep it close, which Jonathan responded to by saying that none, not even the gods, might take it from him. At that moment, however, Izzy took back the staff, irate at Jonathan's pilfering of it. Personality and Traits Ardeth Bay was above all other things, a Medjai, a warrior for God that would let nothing stand in his way of succeeding in his mission to keep the world safe, with the help of other Medjai warriors, from the threat of the High Priest Imhotep returning from his grave and wreaking his revenge on the world for his untimely death. Ardeth usually kept a calm, cool demeanour that would sometimes reach the point at times of being somewhat brusque to others, but whatever reason Ardeth had was almost always that he could not trouble himself for social niceties when the evil being that his people strove to keep quelled might return to life. Ardeth Bay wore long black robes with a gray sash, as the other Medjai warriors did, as well as a black headdress that he often wore when with other warriors, a pair of bandoliers and belt and, on occasion, a long dark cloak brocaded with silvery images. Ardeth had a short moustache and beard, accompanied by long black hair and had his face painted with tattoos of Arabic symbols. Behind the Scenes Ardeth Bay was portrayed by actor Oded Fehr in the first two films and was voiced by Nicholas Guest in the animated series. In the original script of the first film, Ardeth was to die at the end, an idea dropped later by Stephen Sommers. Ardeth Bay's name was originally the alter ego of the mummy Imhotep in the 1930's film "The Mummy". It is also an anagram of the phrase, "Death By Ra." Appearances *Canon **''The Mummy'' **''The Mummy (novelization)'' **''The Mummy Returns'' **''The Mummy Returns (novelization)'' **''The Mummy: The Animated Series'' Category:Characters Bay, Ardeth Bay, Ardeth Category:Medjai Category:Egyptian Category:Males